Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
I spent the entire day at NKHS and it was Homecoming day which only allowed for 1 prep, 2 classes and then a prep rally during the last period of school. Students were decorated in their school colors and exuding spirit. My ct had warned in the morning that today would be very difficult to keep students focused due to all the activity and energy heading into the home coming weekend!
First period, students took notes on Osmosis and watched a brief demonstration. I sat in the back of the classroom and watched. The way the class is set up in this room is that there are two students to a desk and several rows of desks. It is a small honors bio class and I must say, the students are very well behaved. At one time, it got a little rowdy during their daily journal entry time at the beginning of class...the ct only had to say "I hear a lot of talking where i should see pencils moving and I think it is pretty difficult to do both given the questions" The students refocused. All the students were engaged in note taking. During the demonstration, there were a few side conversations, however, my ct would ask them a quesiton when this occured. --All in all, there wasnt anything out of the oridnary to report.
The next class period was the Science and Controversy class where the students watched a PBS video for the 1st 45 minutes on "Where is God in Evolution" which portrayed the stories of Wheaton College students who were primarly Christians struggling with dilema "God or Evolution" and "God v. Big Bang". The second part of the video talked a group of high school students that tried to petition for the biology curriculum to be revised to include a Creationist unit during evolution as they primarily believed in intelligent design over science. The case was overthrown by the school committee. During the movie, some students where having side conversations as this class is mostly seniors and juniors who were participating in the prep rally events and were anxious about getting out of the period. My Ct would simply walk around the classroom and stand where he heard conversation. Another student had his head down during one point and my ct casually strolled over to tap him quickly. Other than that...no issues once again. Students appeared fully engaged whether they actually were or not. At the end of the class, my ct started assigning roles to the students for the next two class periods where the assignment was to set up a mock trial about the the 1st amendment being violated by not focusing on creationism in the evolution unit in a science classroom. Students had to play roles as defense and prosecuting attorneys, charles darwin, the pope, a number of scientists, embryologists, microbiologists, baliffs, judges, etc. They will have 1 period to research their role and will have the trial two class periods from that point on. During this period, students were excited to see what parts they were going to play and then the bell rang for lunch...........
Since this observation is about classroom management and teaching strategies for keeping students fully engaged at all times, I would like to be subtle. I am not at school to babysit. I do think it is important to be aware of body langauage of students, energy levels, side conversations, etc. I think a variety of methods can be used to get students back on track-one being asking them to perform a task or ask a question about what is going on. The next is also to move around the classroom and spend more time next to the student who is disengaging from the lesson until he refocuses. I also believe that it is important to realize that these students are humans who also have good and bad days. If there is a student who is typically engaged and well-behaved but zoning out for a period or chatty, I probably wouldnt make a huge deal out of it if it is not a typical habit nor would i intentially call on a student when they are having an "off day". I think that being flexible with planning or changing up activities, is key depending on the classroom attitude and climate for each day. You need to know how to read your students and adjust when appropriate.
Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room.How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
I spent the entire day at NKHS and it was Homecoming day which only allowed for 1 prep, 2 classes and then a prep rally during the last period of school. Students were decorated in their school colors and exuding spirit. My ct had warned in the morning that today would be very difficult to keep students focused due to all the activity and energy heading into the home coming weekend!
First period, students took notes on Osmosis and watched a brief demonstration. I sat in the back of the classroom and watched. The way the class is set up in this room is that there are two students to a desk and several rows of desks. It is a small honors bio class and I must say, the students are very well behaved. At one time, it got a little rowdy during their daily journal entry time at the beginning of class...the ct only had to say "I hear a lot of talking where i should see pencils moving and I think it is pretty difficult to do both given the questions" The students refocused. All the students were engaged in note taking. During the demonstration, there were a few side conversations, however, my ct would ask them a quesiton when this occured. --All in all, there wasnt anything out of the oridnary to report.
The next class period was the Science and Controversy class where the students watched a PBS video for the 1st 45 minutes on "Where is God in Evolution" which portrayed the stories of Wheaton College students who were primarly Christians struggling with dilema "God or Evolution" and "God v. Big Bang". The second part of the video talked a group of high school students that tried to petition for the biology curriculum to be revised to include a Creationist unit during evolution as they primarily believed in intelligent design over science. The case was overthrown by the school committee. During the movie, some students where having side conversations as this class is mostly seniors and juniors who were participating in the prep rally events and were anxious about getting out of the period. My Ct would simply walk around the classroom and stand where he heard conversation. Another student had his head down during one point and my ct casually strolled over to tap him quickly. Other than that...no issues once again. Students appeared fully engaged whether they actually were or not. At the end of the class, my ct started assigning roles to the students for the next two class periods where the assignment was to set up a mock trial about the the 1st amendment being violated by not focusing on creationism in the evolution unit in a science classroom. Students had to play roles as defense and prosecuting attorneys, charles darwin, the pope, a number of scientists, embryologists, microbiologists, baliffs, judges, etc. They will have 1 period to research their role and will have the trial two class periods from that point on. During this period, students were excited to see what parts they were going to play and then the bell rang for lunch...........
Since this observation is about classroom management and teaching strategies for keeping students fully engaged at all times, I would like to be subtle. I am not at school to babysit. I do think it is important to be aware of body langauage of students, energy levels, side conversations, etc. I think a variety of methods can be used to get students back on track-one being asking them to perform a task or ask a question about what is going on. The next is also to move around the classroom and spend more time next to the student who is disengaging from the lesson until he refocuses. I also believe that it is important to realize that these students are humans who also have good and bad days. If there is a student who is typically engaged and well-behaved but zoning out for a period or chatty, I probably wouldnt make a huge deal out of it if it is not a typical habit nor would i intentially call on a student when they are having an "off day". I think that being flexible with planning or changing up activities, is key depending on the classroom attitude and climate for each day. You need to know how to read your students and adjust when appropriate.